The Voice in My Ear

Ten different Claires - each at a different stage of her life - offer up a terrifyingly perceptive slice of contemporary womanhood.

‘Superbly written and fearlessly imagined fiction’ Sarah Hall

Ten women, all called Claire, are tangled up in complex power dynamics with their families, friends, and lovers. Though all are different ages, and leading different lives, each is haunted by the difficulty of living on her own terms.

Claire is a teenaged babysitter left alone with a strange little girl and her imaginary friend. Claire is a woman trying to escape her elderly mother by employing an android carer. Claire is a young TV journalist wrecking her first big interview. Claire’s boyfriend discovers more than he bargains for when he begins to read her diary.

And whatever she does, Claire is always living in the shadow of a monstrous mother.

‘Leviston is a mistress of precision and emotional insight’ Hilary Mantel, TLS